1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch sensitive switch with a light for adoption in operating switches used in vehicle mounted equipment such as audio equipment or air conditioning equipment etc. that is also usable in a dark environment such as during night time.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An example configuration of a related touch sensitive switch 90 with a light is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, a switch element 92 and a light-emitting element 93 such as an LED etc. are mounted on a substrate 94 provided within a key top 91 provided at the surface of a panel 20. The switch element 92 is turned on or off by pressing the key top 91.
In this example, the light-emitting element 93 is connected to a day/night switchover circuit (not shown in the drawings) and remains turned off during the day with a display printed on the surface of the key top 91 being read using external light such as daylight. The light-emitting element 93 is then turned on at night, and the display is read using light from the light-emitting element 93.
The related touch sensitive switch 90 has the following problems. First, printing on the surface of the key top 91 is the only indication of the function of the touch sensitive switch 90 of the related configuration. It is therefore inclined for a person to become confused as to which channel is being received when pressing the key top 91 in order to change channel. Second, when this kind of touch sensitive switch 90 is adopted for the above use, touch sensitive switches 90 with channel numbers printed on the surface of the key top 91 have to be used in accordance with the number of channels, so that the apparatus therefore becomes bulky and costs are also increased.